Experience of Information and Advice in relation to social care from a Warwickshire Resident

I think I for advice and guidance. I've had carers UK available for me at the end of the phone. However, in terms of so that's the plus point. The negative is that I've read in information carer breaks, but I've never found one available in two decades

Never. And when I've inquired, the answer I'm given is they are not available due to a lack of funding. And, um, funding clawed back

And for me, um, I gave up because the amount of time that I spent inquiring, I realised, could have actually been spent on my other essential duties and responsibilities. I would steal two or three minutes from here or there just to make a phone call and wait to to hear that, to be told that, um that there isn't such a thing. Right now it's something that you need to go away and inquire for yourself

Well, I did. Then I went to the major organisations and businesses such as centre Parks, and my mom is not into butlins. It's too much of a noisy environment for her

She needs one of reflection for me. I'm open to all kinds of environments. Um and so um when I wrote these multimillion pound businesses were sending an email and not supporting this initiative

They're not supporting funded or even complementary days where they may have a career day, and they're not even entertaining. They, uh, research of the least popular day for a booking that they could give it away. They're not even supporting that

And I was I was really alarmed. And I thought, Where is the social responsibility in this? Um, and I'm finding as each year passes that our society is reducing in care in, in, in customer care quality. Mm

Well, I relied upon, um, uh, carers UK, and they pointed me in the direction of adult social care and asking the local council about their pot of funding. And that's where I had this rejection that it's it's not funded anymore. Um, and I think the impression I had is actually they said it quite clearly

Well, if you would like a social worker type of assessment to identify needs, um, we could arrange that that there is waiting time of this period, and then the assessment can take up to six or eight weeks, and then you would You should expect to hear from them, uh, 12 to 18 weeks later and that's not what what I expected. I. I am full of complications in one day of seven

I didn't need to wait around for that. I'm already waiting around for adaptation improvements and another OT assessment every time. My mother's needs change

OK, if we then move on to paediatric my child, who had was born with global developmental delay due to her prematurity. Uh, she went through OOT adaptations, and suddenly they were cut off. And when I questioned why, they said, Well, she's out of the early years Age group now and I said yes

But that doesn't mean that she she no longer has imbalance or she no longer needs support in stepping and walking. And then she cannot scoot like the Children her age and the paediatrician. Asked about this, um, she's learning to scoot while others are running

How can you say she's just come out of early years? Our service owner goes up to early years. What provision is there in place? Well, there wasn't so there. I was again for hours and hours calling external businesses profit making limited companies businesses and asking them, Do you? Do you? Do you, um, have a reduction rate, remember? Because I'm not a working, uh, professional earning a salary

So then I was contacting businesses. Do you Do you have quite a day where I can bring my daughter in for a trampolining experience and they would say, Well, this is our quietest day, and then I would go on to the next question. OK? Do you have, um, a concessionary charges and I may need to support her

Just stand. Hold on to her arms when she's on the trampoline. No, you you will

Well, if your feet are going to be on that trampoline, you'll be paying a ticket. And I said, All right, OK, where's the consideration and respecting that? My daughter would try to just jump fall and then sit there crying because she needs to be lifted again so she won't enjoy that experience. So I every single reaching out was a journey for me, and it did not need to be so complicated

So then the question is going back to one of the early questions you asked me is, um, how about myself as a carer in my experience. Well, I was extremely healthy all through my youth. I didn't even know what goes on a prescription

Because I never had one from the GP until I didn't even realise I was having anxiety attacks. I didn I didn't even know what they were. And it was because these organisations were knocking me back when I was knocking their doors for support

Mm..